Robert Greenblatt, chairman of NBC Entertainment, said the good news for the network is being out of fourth place. Everything’s relative.

In a sluggish Q&A with critics Tuesday, Greenblatt and fellow NBC executives were on the defensive.

NBC will use the Olympics to aggressively promote its fall shows. Greenblatt announced full-episode and commercial-free previews of the new comedies “Go On” (Aug.8) and “Animal Practice” (Aug. 12); an Aug. 4 preview of “Revolution,” the network’s big drama, and early Sept. premieres of nearly everything else. Two live “Saturday Night Live” election specials are set for Sept. 20 and 27.

“I don’t think the Olympics is necessarily a rented audience,” Greenblatt said in response to a question about the ultimate value of the Games, given the huge expense and short-term viewing.

He wouldn’t predict whether this will be the last season for “Community.” Depends on the ratings. And he expressed great pride in “Smash,” which, he said, is a giant production but really just a big soap with creative ups and downs. With a new showrunner, he expects better storyline arcs.

The network’s edgiest show for fall, “The New Normal,” already a target for conservative interest groups, is really “a love letter to family,” says Jennifer Salke, president of NBC Entertainment.

Salke spoke the truest words of the session: “we’re in this awkward stage,” in terms of NBC’s “evolving comedy brand.” This fall, NBC viewers will see a strange mix of aging shows embraced by critics (like “Community”) and new, much broader, blatantly commercial efforts (like “Animal Practice””) that rely on monkey hijinks. Literally.

Joanne Ostrow has been watching TV since before "reality" required quotation marks. "Hill Street Blues" was life-changing. If Dickens, Twain or Agatha Christie were alive today, they'd be writing for television. And proud of it.